Bringing cinnamon to Europe

site: Bringing cinnamon to Europe

Cinnamon is a sweet, fragrant spice produced from the inner bark of trees of the genus Cinnamomum, which is native to the Indian sub-continent.

cinnamon /ˈsɪn.ə.mən/ noun. 肉桂皮

fragrant /ˈfreɪ.ɡrənt/ adjective. 香的

bark /bɑːrk/ noun. 树皮 +1

It was known in biblical times, and is mentioned in several books of the Bible, both as an ingredient that was mixed with oils for anointing people’s bodies, and also as a token indicating friendship among lovers and friends.

anoint /əˈnɔɪnt/ verb. 涂油于

In ancient Rome, mourners attending funerals burnt cinnamon to create a pleasant scent.

mourner /ˈmɔːr.nɚ/ noun. 哀悼者

scent /sent/ noun. 芬香

In the Middle Ages, Europeans who could afford the spice used it to flavour food, particularly meat, and to impress those around them with their ability to purchase an expensive condiment from the ‘exotic’ East.

condiment /ˈkɑːn.də.mənt/ noun. 调味品

At a banquet, a host would offer guests a plate with various spices piled upon it as a sign of the wealth at his or her disposal.

banquet /ˈbæŋ.kwət/ noun. 盛宴

disposal /dɪˈspoʊ.zəl/ noun. 处置权

• at sb. disposal 共某人使用

Cinnamon was also reported to have health benefits, and was thought to cure various ailments, such as indigestion.

ailment /ˈeɪl.mənt/ noun. 小病

indigestion /ˌɪn.dɪˈdʒes.tʃən/ noun. 消化不良

Because the overland trade route allowed for only small quantities of the spice to reach Europe, and because Venice had a virtual monopoly of the trade, the Venetians could set the price of cinnamon exorbitantly high.

monopoly /məˈnɑː.pəl.i/ noun. 垄断 +1

exorbitantly /eɡˈzːɔr.bə.t̬ənt.li/ adverb. 过高

Before Europeans arrived on the island, the state had organized the cultivation of cinnamon.

cultivation /ˌkʌl.təˈveɪ.ʃən/ noun. 耕作 +1

People belonging to the ethnic group called the Salagama would peel the bark off young shoots of the cinnamon plant in the rainy season, when the wet bark was more pliable.

ethnic /ˈeθ.nɪk/ adjective. 民族的

pliable /ˈplaɪ.ə.bəl/ adjective. 易弯的

During the peeling process, they curled the bark into the ‘stick’ shape still associated with the spice today.

peeling /piːl/ verb. 去掉的皮

curled /kɝːl/ verb. 卷曲的

The Salagama then gave the finished product to the king as a form of tribute.

tribute /ˈtrɪb.juːt/ noun. 表达尊敬的东西

In 1518, the Portuguese built a fort on Ceylon, which enabled them to protect the island, so helping them to develop a monopoly in the cinnamon trade and generate very high profits.

fort /fɔːrt/ noun. 堡垒

generate very high profits

In the late 16th century, for example, they enjoyed a tenfold profit when shipping cinnamon over a journey of eight days from Ceylon to India.

tenfold /ˈten.foʊld/ adjective. 十倍的

Over time, the supply of cinnamon trees on the island became nearly exhausted, due to systematic stripping of the bark.

exhausted /ɪɡˈzɑː.stɪd/ adjective. 精疲力竭的

systematic /ˌsɪs.təˈmæt̬.ɪk/ adjective. 有条理的

Eventually, the Dutch began cultivating their own cinnamon trees to supplement the diminishing number of wild trees available for use.

diminishing /dɪˈmɪn.ɪʃ/ verb. 逐渐减少的

Not only was a monopoly of cinnamon becoming impossible, but the spice trade overall was diminishing in economic potential, and was eventually superseded by the rise of trade in coffee, tea, chocolate, and sugar.

superseded /ˌsuː.pɚˈsiːd/ verb. 被取代

Oxytocin

site: Oxytocin

Oxytocin is a chemical, a hormone produced in the pituitary gland in the brain.

hormone /ˈhɔːr.moʊn/ noun. 激素

pituitary /pɪˈtuː.ə.ter.i ˌɡlænd/ noun. 垂体

gland /ɡlænd/ noun. 腺

They discovered that it helps reinforce the bonds between prairie voles, which mate for life, and triggers the motherly behaviour that sheep show towards their newborn lambs.

prairie /ˈprer.i/ noun. 大草原

vole /voʊl/ noun. 田鼠

One sniff of it can, it is claimed, make a person more trusting, empathetic, generous and cooperative.

It is claimed, one sniff of it can make a person more trusting, empathetic, generous and cooperative.

In a groundbreaking experiment, Markus Heinrichs and his colleagues at the University of Freiburg, Germany, asked volunteers to do an activity in which they could invest money with an anonymous person who was not guaranteed to be honest.

groundbreaking /ˈɡraʊndˌbreɪ.kɪŋ/ adjective. 开创性

The team found that participants who had sniffed oxytocin via a nasal spray beforehand invested more money than those who received a placebo instead.

nasal /ˈneɪ.zəl/ adjective. 鼻音

spray /spreɪ/ noun. 喷雾器

placebo /pləˈsiː.boʊ/ noun. 安慰剂

‘For eight years, it was quite a lonesome field,’ Heinrichs recalls.

lonesome /ˈloʊn.səm/ adjective. 孤单的

‘Now, everyone is interested’ These follow-up studies have shown that after a sniff of the hormone, people become more charitable, better at reading emotions on others’ faces and at communicating constructively in arguments.

charitable /ˈtʃer.ə.t̬ə.bəl/ adjective. 乐善好施的

Then, after a few years, contrasting findings began to emerge.

began to emerge

Simone Shamay-Tsoory at the University of Haifa, Israel, found that when volunteers played a competitive game, those who inhaled the hormone showed more pleasure when they beat other players, and felt more envy when others won.

inhaled /ɪnˈheɪl/ verb. 吸入

envy /ˈen.vi/ verb. 怨恨

What’s more, administering oxytocin also has sharply contrasting outcomes depending on a person’s disposition.

disposition /ˌdɪs.pəˈzɪʃ.ən/ noun. 性情；倾向

Studies conducted by Carolyn DeClerck of the University of Antwerp, Belgium, revealed that people who had received a dose of oxytocin actually became less cooperative when dealing with complete strangers.

conduct /kənˈdʌkt/ verb. 行为; 处理

So, it appears that oxytocin strengthens biases, rather than promoting general goodwill, as was previously thought.

bias /ˈbaɪ.əs/ noun. 偏见

There were signs of these subtleties from the start.

subtlety /ˈsʌt̬.əl.t̬i/ noun. 微妙

Where once researchers took no notice of such findings, now a more nuanced understanding of oxytocin’s effects is propelling investigations down new lines.

nuanced /ˈnuː.ɑːnst/ adjective. 细致入微

propel /prəˈpel/ verb. 推进

There are several hypotheses which are not mutually exclusive.

mutually /ˈmjuː.tʃu.ə.li/ adverb. 互相

She believes that oxytocin acts as a chemical spotlight that shines on social clues - a shift in posture, a flicker of the eyes, a dip in the voice - making people more attuned to their social environment.

attuned /əˈtuːnd/ adjective. 调谐; 使适应

But it could also make things worse for people who are overly sensitive or prone to interpreting social cues in the worst light.

prone /proʊn/ adjective. 容易的; 俯卧的

MAKING THE MOST OF TRENDS

site: MAKING THE MOST OF TRENDS

At the extreme, they can jeopardize a company by ceding to rivals the opportunity to transform the industry.

jeopardize /ˈdʒep.ɚ.daɪz/ verb. 危及

cede /siːd/ verb. 放弃

The purpose of this article is twofold: to spur managers to think more expansively about how trends could engender new value propositions in their core markets, and to provide some high-level advice on how to make market research and product development personnel more adept at analyzing and exploiting trends.

spur /spɝː/ verb. 激励; 马刺

engender /ɪnˈdʒen.dɚ/ verb. 导致

proposition /ˌprɑː.pəˈzɪʃ.ən/ noun. 提议 +1

exploiting /ɪkˈsplɔɪt/ verb. 发挥; 开发

One strategy, known as ‘infuse and augment’, is to design a product or service that retains most of the attributes and functions of existing products in the category but adds others that address the needs and desires unleashed by a major trend.

infuse /ɪnˈfjuːz/ verb. 使充满

augment /ɑːɡˈment/ verb. 增加

unleashed /ʌnˈliːʃ/ verb. 释放

The Coach brand had been a symbol of opulence and luxury for nearly 70 years, and the most obvious reaction to the downturn would have been to lower prices.

opulence /ˈɑː.pjə.ləns/ noun. 奢侈

However, that would have risked cheapening the brand’s image.

cheapening /ˈtʃiː.pən/ verb. 使…下降；贬低

Using these insights, Coach launched the lower-priced Poppy handbags, which were in vibrant colors, and looked more youthful and playful than conventional Coach products.

vibrant /ˈvaɪ.brənt/ adjective. 活泼的

Creating the sub-brand allowed Coach to avert an across-the-board price cut. In contrast to the many companies that responded to the recession by cutting prices, Coach saw the new consumer mindset as an opportunity for innovation and renewal.

avert /əˈvɝːt/ verb. 防止

recession /rɪˈseʃ.ən/ noun. 经济萧条

With that in mind, Tesco, one of the world’s top five retailers, introduced its Greener Living program, which demonstrates the company’s commitment to protecting the environment by involving consumers in ways that produce tangible results.

tangible /ˈtæn.dʒə.bəl/ adjective. 可触摸的

This entails combining aspects of the product’s existing value proposition with attributes addressing changes arising from a trend, to create a novel experience - one that may land the company in an entirely new market space.

entail /ɪnˈteɪl/ verb. 需要; 导致; 合乎逻辑的引出

By combining Nike’s original value proposition for amateur athletes with one for digital consumers, the Nike+ sports kit and web interface moved the company from a focus on athletic apparel to a new plane of engagement with its customers.

amateur /ˈæm.ə.tʃɚ/ adjective. 业余运动员

apparel /əˈper.əl/ noun. 衣服

a new plane of engagement with 一个新的接触层面

A third approach, known as ‘counteract and reaffirm’, involves developing products or services that stress the values traditionally associated with the category in ways that allow consumers to oppose - or at least temporarily escape from - the aspects of trends they view as undesirable.

counteract /ˌkaʊn.t̬ɚˈækt/ verb. 抵抗

reaffirm /ˌriː.əˈfɝːm/ verb. 重申

What set it apart was that it incorporated the traditional physical component of children’s play: it contained a pedometer, which tracked and awarded points for physical activity (walking, running, biking, skateboarding, climbing stairs).

pedometer /pɪˈdɑː.mə.t̬ɚ/ noun. 计步器

The ME2, introduced in mid- 2008, catered to kids’ huge desire to play video games while countering the negatives, such as associations with lack of exercise and obesity.

obesity /oʊˈbiː.sə.t̬i/ noun. 肥胖

When your category’s basic value proposition continues to be meaningful for consumers influenced by the trend, the infuse-and-augment strategy will allow you to reinvigorate the category.

reinvigorate /ˌriː.ɪnˈvɪɡ.ə.reɪt/ verb. 给…注入新的活力

If analysis reveals an increasing disparity between your category and consumers, new focus, your innovations need to transcend the category to integrate the two worlds.

disparity /dɪˈsper.ə.t̬i/ noun. 悬殊的差异

transcend /trænˈsend/ verb. 超越

integrate /ˈɪn.t̬ə.ɡreɪt/ verb. 使成为一体